The Costa Rica Mission: The Flip Side

Day 3: July 14, 2012

It’s my third day in Costa Rica and I’m starting to get more used to things. Last night, after I wrote from the balcony, Christine and I talked for several hours, just sharing about our lives with each other. We talked from the time we ate dinner until the time we went to bed!

I started today off by going to Cinco Esquinas (5 Corners), which is more of a poor neighborhood near Heredia. Christine started a ministry there playing and teaching and building relationships with the children in that area in hopes of them one day discipling and teaching each other. Today she told the story of Jesus walking on water and the importance of having faith in God. To go along with the story we set trash bags down on the ground and made a makeshift slip-n-slide that the children had to walk across while balancing a Frisbee on top of their head and holding a hula-hoop while the rest of us threw balls at them to distract them. Christine then shared with them about how God is bigger than their fears.

After that we prepared for our missions team to arrive, Victory Team they are called. I helped hole punch some folders and staple some documents for them. When they arrived I helped serve the meal to them and clean up afterwards. It wasn’t long after lunch that we had to start preparing for dinner. So I started rolling more silverware and helping out any other way that I could.

It’s very interesting to be on the flip side of everything. In the ministry I have worked in before I’ve always been on the front lines, I’ve been the “doer”. I was the one that would be face to face with the child, teaching them. I was the one leading the Bible studies, etc, etc. But I have never before been the one feeding the people on the frontlines. I’ve never been the one preparing folders or materials for those on the front lines. And it’s good for me! Because I am on the front lines of ministry so often I tend to struggle with pride. I’m very aware of that struggle and I have to constantly remind myself to give my ministry over to Jesus. So working behind the scenes, where the spotlight is on someone else and not me, is good for me. It helps me to realize just how much “doing” the people behind the scenes have to do in order for things to run smoothly for those on the front lines.

I feel like I’m getting a little bit more confident with trying to speak Spanish. I realized today that if I really want to get good at speaking Spanish then I need to try to do it myself, not rely on translators around me. I had a few small conversations with people in Spanish. Hopefully I’ll be able to have long conversations in Spanish by the time I leave here!